By Chris Vedelago and Cameron Houston
Victoria’s director of public prosecutions has further inflamed tensions with certain members of the state’s judiciary by lodging a formal complaint against a second judge and issuing a letter warning two senior lawyers about their professional responsibilities.
On Tuesday, it was revealed that Kerri Judd, KC, has lodged an official complaint with the Judicial Commission of Victoria against County Court judge Geoff Chettle over his criticism of the strength of the prosecution case in a sex crimes trial in 2023.
Victorian Director of Public Prosecutions Kerri Judd, KC.Credit: Paul Jeffers
The revelation follows the resignation in protest of Supreme Court judge Lex Lasry earlier this month, after he said in open court he strongly denied the DPP’s claims in a similar complaint that his “judicial independence and impartiality is compromised”.
Judd’s action against the two long-standing members of the judiciary also comes after her public quarrel with special investigator and former judge Geoffrey Nettle over whether police officers should face charges over the Lawyer X scandal. In that case, dozens of criminal convictions were called into doubt due to Victoria Police’s decision to use barrister Nicola Gobbo as an informer.
This masthead can also reveal that Judd has recently accused a solicitor and barrister involved in a high-profile underworld case of making unfounded allegations of misconduct against two former senior crown prosecutors.
In correspondence to the lawyers from December, Judd suggested the allegations should be withdrawn.
County Court judge Geoff Chettle.Credit: Michael Clayton-Jones
She then reminded the lawyers of their obligations under the Legal Profession’s Uniform Conduct rules for barristers and solicitors, and threatened to raise the matter with the chief justice of the Supreme Court if the lawyers continued to pursue the allegations.
In the Chettle case, the DPP made an application during the trial asking the judge to recuse himself on the basis he had made “grim” observations about the quality of the prosecution case that suggested he was biased.
Chettle denied Judd’s application in a strongly worded rebuttal. He also ordered a permanent stay stopping the prosecution in the sex crimes trial based on his assessment of the evidence.
In the aftermath of the decision, Office of Public Prosecutions (OPP) solicitor Abbey Hogan filed a complaint against Chettle with the Judicial Commission of Victoria.
Former Supreme Court judge Lex Lasry, pictured in 2018.Credit: The Age
The circumstances preceding the complaint against Chettle were similar to the one Hogan filed on behalf of the DPP against Lasry, which centred around his decision to stay the prosecution of the supervisor at the trucking company involved in the crash on Melbourne’s Eastern Freeway, where four police officers died.
This complaint included allegations from the OPP that Lasry’s conduct “diminish[ed] public confidence in the administration of justice in Victoria and diminish[ed] the confidence of litigants and the public in general in [h]is [h]onour’s impartiality and independence”.
Judd was unavailable to comment because she has taken long service leave, but a spokesperson for the OPP declined to comment on the agency’s complaint against Chettle.
The Judicial Commission did not respond to requests for comment. Chettle declined to comment.
The investigation into the complaint against Chettle was suspended while the Court of Appeal heard a challenge to the judge’s permanent stay order. In mid-2023, the appeals court reversed Chettle’s decision and ordered a new trial.
The Judicial Commission is now investigating the Chettle complaint. The Lasry complaint will not proceed now that the judge has left the bench.
Lasry and Judd had been at public loggerheads over her handling of the charges against trucking company supervisor Simiona Tuteru, who was charged with manslaughter over the deaths of the four police officers on the Eastern Freeway in April 2020.
Lasry had criticised Judd in open court for bringing the charge and then withdrawing it at a later date without any explanation.
Lasry ordered a permanent stay on the remaining charge against Tuteru, of breaching heavy vehicle laws, and ruled the prosecution had abused the court process. Permanent stays are only granted in exceptional circumstances and are rare.
But in August, Judd successfully fought to have Lasry’s ruling reversed and the Court of Appeal found it could see no basis for the permanent stay.
The appeal judges noted there was no duty for prosecutors to explain to a court why charges were being discontinued, and ruled that Lasry’s view about the disrespectful attitude of the DPP had “infected” his analysis.
On October 5, Lasry unexpectedly resigned while overseeing pre-trial proceedings in a major underworld trial that was set to begin in less than two months. The trial now faces significant delays.
“[The Court of Appeal] were critical of the process by which I had reached that result,” Lasry said in the Supreme Court at the time.
“I accept that criticism without qualification. I now discover that the Director of Public Prosecutions, through the solicitor Abbey Hogan, has made a formal complaint about me and the way in which that matter was conducted to the Judicial Commission of Victoria.
“These are allegations I utterly reject.”
Lasry will officially retire at the end of this week.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.